Side-lay apparatus for printing-machines.



No. 825,408. PATENTED JULY 10, I906.

T-M- NORTH. SIDE LAY APPARATUS FOR PRINTING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.27, 1906.

3 SHBETS-SHEET 1.

. M JL 3Y9 m M MW ms NURRIS PETERS cm, wxsnmcronz, a CI No. 825,408. PATENTED JULY 10, 1906.

' T. M. NORTH.

A SIDE LAY APPARATUS FOR. PRINTING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 27. 1905.

'3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

THE NORRIS PETERS cO-. WAsnmaraN. D. c

F 9 'TM; QJLNJQTDMQ:

N0. 825,408. PATENTED JULY 10, 1906.

T. M. NORTH;

SIDE LAY APPARATUS FOR PRINTING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 27. 1905..

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

mam mm UNITED STATES; Parana OFFICE.

THOMAS M. NORTH, OF LONDON, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR TO LINOTYPE AND MACHINERY LIMITED, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

SIDE-LAY APPARATUS FOR PRINTING-MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 10, 1906.

A li ti fil d November 27, 1905. Serial No. 289,253.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THoMAs MERRIFIELD NORTH, of 188 and 189 Fleet street, London, England, have invented new and useful Improvements in Side Lay Apparatus for Printing-Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in side-lay apparatus for printing-machines, particularly such printing-machines as are, for example, like those described in the specification of Letters Patent No. 800,477, dated September 25, 1905, arranged in tandem and adapted to produce a succession of impressions, as in a multicolor job.

The invention belongs to the well-known type which effects lateral registration of the sheet by pushing the side edge of it across the feed-board up to a certain line and then seizing the sheet and retracting it to another certain line, and the said invention is applicable to any construction of side lay which is capa ble of fulfilling those functions.

In a series of printinganachines arranged tandemwise it is frequently found that the sheets receiving the impressions after leaving the first machine foul the side lays of the subsequent machines, and thereby occasion much trouble and waste of material. This is attributable to the fact that the grippers of the side lays of these subsequent machines remain in the position occupied by them when they have brought their respective sheets into proper transverse register, and consequently as the sheets travel from machine to machine in or approximately in this same position relatively to the width of the machines their front edges come into contact with the said side lays. Efforts have hitherto been made to overcome this difficulty by securing the forms in different lateral positions in the-respective machines, each being nearer to, say, the feeder side of the machine than the corresponding form of the next preceding machine of the series and each of the side lays being correspondingly positioned so as to properly register the sheets with the respective form. This arrangement, however, is not possible with forms of the maximum size, because the sheets to receive the transversely would come beneath the bearers of the impression-cylinder, and thereby move this cylinder away from the form, and

consequently prevent an impression being The present invention overcomes these difficulties by and consists in constructing the side lays so that their gri pers are caused to release the sheets when the latter are, as hitherto, brought into proper side register and thereafter to move outward beyond this releasing position, so as to be clear of the next oncoming sheet. When this latter is brought up to the front stops, the side lay advances first through the idle part of its stroke in which it has no effect on the sheet and thereafter through the operativepart of its stroke in which it moves the sheet transversely across the machine to a certain definite position. At this stage the side lay grips the sheet and commences to make its outward journey, bringing the sheet along with it until the proper side-register position is reached, at which juncture the side lay releases the sheet and thereafter proceeds idly to the completion of its outward journey, where it remains until the next sheet is brought up to the front stops, when the above-described cycle is repeated.

As hereinbefore explained, the present in vention may be applied to any side lay which 'is capable of fulfilling the above-named functions; but for convenience of illustration it is hereinafter described and in the acco1npanying drawings is represented as applied to a side lay of the construction set forth in the specification of Letters Patent No. 789,870, dated May 16, 1905.

In the accompanying drawings, which are to be taken as part of this specification and read therewith, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a side-lay apparatus embodying the improvements constituting the present invention. Fig. 2 is a view, partly in elevation and partly in vertical section, on the line 2 2 of F i 1 with the sheet-adjusting devices in their fu lyprojected position in which they grip the sheet. Fig. 3 is a plan showing the same apparatus with parts omitted and with the sheetadjusting devices in their fully -retracted or normal position. Fi s. 4 and 5 are views, respectively, similar to Figs. 2 and 3, showing the sheet-adjusting devices in the partiallyimpressions from such forms if displaced retracted position in which they release the As described in the before-mentioned specification of Letters Patent No. 789,870, the plunger and foot between which the sheets are gripped, and which two devices for that reason are hereinafter referred to as grippers, are mounted on a plate, which is pro jected inward toward the middle of the feedboard by a cam and retracted or moved in the reverse direction by a spring, the outward movement being limited by an adjustable set-screw which stopped the grippers in or about a position on the feedboard, at which the adjacent side edges of the sheet next received on the feed-board would foul them.

In the side lay illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5, inclusive, the plunger 1, foot 2, plate 3, cam 4, and spring5 are all provided as in the former arrangement; but in the present arrangement the cam-4 is adapted to impart to the plate 3 a greater movement than did the corresponding cam of the earlier arrangement, this further' or extended motion being imparted to the plate at the outside of or beyond what in such earlier arrangement was the outermost position of the plate. The extreme outward travel of the plate 3 is limited by a set-screw 6, adjustable in the lower end of a standard 7; but in addition to this device the plate 3 is provided with a stop 8, pivoted to it by a screw 9 and adapted to engage with an abutment 10, fast to the standard 7. This movable stop 8 is provided with a tail 11, to which is attached one end of a spring 12, the other end of which is fast to the plate 3. The spring 12 tends always to hold the tail 11 against or return it into contact with a stop-pin 13, fast to the plate 3, this position corresponding to that in which the movable stop 8 is capable of engaging the abutment 10, and the said stop-pin 13 prevents the stop 8 from being moved past this position. suitable tappet 14, secured to the cam 4, is adapted to strike the movable stop 8 when the latter is in the manner indicated in Figs. 4 and 5 in engagement with the abutment 10, so as to effect the disengagement of the said movable stop, and thereby allow the plate 3 to be moved by its spring 5 to the outermost limit of its travel, at which position its outward motion is arrested by the set-screw 6. The grippers 1 2 are caused to release the seized sheet at or about the time at which the movable stop 8 reaches the abutment 10, this being effected, as in the earlier arrangement, through the conjoint action of a cam 15, vertical slide 16, and lever 17. Shortly after this stage of the operation the tappet 14 disengages the stop 8 from the abutment 10, and the grippers 1 2 are moved outward, leaving behind them the sheet in proper side register. As soon as the grippers 1 2 are next advanced by the cam 4 the movable stop 8 is moved by its spring 12 into the position in which at the next retraction of the said grippers it will en gage the abutment 10.

The before-described abutment 10 instead of being a fixed one, as shown in the drawings,

gans relatively to the operation of the printing-machine to which it is attached that the grippers 1 2 are caused to release the seized sheet at or immediately after the instant at which the stop 8 in its outward journey comes into contact with the abutment 10 the sheet being immediately thereafter seized (while the stop 8 is still in operation) by the impression-cylinder grippers. devices are not shown in the accompanying drawings, because they do not form any part of the present invention. The interruption of the outward or return journey of the grip- 'pers 1 2 is of the length necessary for allowing the sheet to be released by the side-lay grippers and seized by the impression-cylinder grippers, the action of the tappet 14 on the stop 8, as before described, serving to determine the length of such interruption. It is obvious that this interrupted outward movement of the grippers 1 2 may in accordance with the present invention be obtained by means other than those previously described,

These latter and as one example of such alternative means there may be cited the modified form of the cam 4, which is represented in Fig. 6. This c'am, it will be seen, is provided with a dwell or flattenedportion 18, which is in the position and of the length necessary for attaining the same practical results as the stop 8 conjointly with the abutment 10 and tappet 14. The said dwell 18, however, also causes an interruption in the inward motion of the grippers 1 2; but this has no material efiect on the working results of the apparatus.

The parts of the apparatus which are repreoutward motion of the grippers when the latter are in their releasing position and before they reach their outermost position.

2. In side-lay apparatus the combination with horizontally-reciprocated grippers of a stop in operative connection therewith adapted to arrest their outward motion an abutment for the stop and means adapted to release the stop from the abutment.

In side-lay apparatus the combination with horizontally-guided grippers adapted to seize the sheets, a cam and spring adapted to reciprocate the grippers in the horizontal guides, a stop in operative connection with the grippers adapted to arrest the action of the spring, an abutment for the stop and means adapted to release the stop from the abutment.

4. In side-lay apparatus the combination with grippers adapted to seize the sheets, a

horizontally-guided plate carrying the grippers, a cam and a spring adapted to reciprocate the plate in its guides, a stop pivoted to the plate, an abutment for the stop, a spring in operative connection with the stop adapted to move it into the position in which it engages the abutment and a tappet adapted to release the stop from the abutment.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two witnesses.

THOMAS M. NORTH. Witnesses:

' CHAS. S. lVooDRoFFE, WARWICK THY. WViLLIAMs. 

